The present invention relates to a method for producing a component connection and to a component connection.
It is the object of the invention to provide a method for producing a component connection, in which a (sheet-metal) component is connected to a connecting element in a simple manner. It is furthermore the object of the invention to provide a corresponding component connection.
The starting point of the invention is a method for producing a component connection which includes a first component and a male connecting element which comprises at least one ball or at least one spherical element.
According to the invention, the at least one ball or the at least one spherical element of the connecting element is pressed into the first component, in particular into the material of the first component, in such a manner that a form-fitting and/or frictionally engaged connection is produced between the first component and the connecting element, by which the connecting element is connected to the first component in a translationally fixed and rotationally fixed manner.
The invention may appear to be very simple at first view. Tests have revealed that a connecting element which comprises at least one ball or at least one spherical element, which ball or which spherical element is pressed into the first component, is connectable to the first component very readily and fixedly solely by being pressed in. Owing to the completely symmetrical geometry of a ball, higher quality press connections can be achieved with a connecting element which comprises at least one ball or at least one spherical element than with many other pressing-in element geometries.
The connecting element can be formed from a plurality of balls or spherical elements. As an alternative thereto, the connecting element can also comprise a “functional element”, such as, for example, a bolt, a threaded pin, a polygon or the like, which protrudes from the spherical element or the ball.
When the at least one ball or the at least one spherical element is pressed into the material of the first component, the material of the first component can flow into a region above an equatorial plane of the at least one ball or of the at least one spherical element. The material of the first component flows to a certain extent “around the ball or the spherical element” and adheres in a close-fitting manner against the ball or the spherical element, as a result of which a form-fitting and/or frictionally engaged connection is produced between the ball or the spherical element and the first component. “Flowing” means permanent plastic deformation in this context.
Depending on the material of the ball or the spherical element and the material of the first component, and the manner in which the pressing-in operation takes place, it may be, during the pressing of the ball or the spherical element into the first component, that the material of the connecting element, i.e. the at least one ball or the at least one spherical element, also flows.
According to a development of the invention, it is provided that the at least one ball or the at least one spherical element is pressed into the first component from a first side of the first component, and that counterholding is undertaken during the pressing-in operation from a side of the first component opposite the first side by way of an “counterholding tool”. The counterholding tool can have a trough-like depression in the region of the location at which the at least one ball or the at least one spherical element is pressed into the first component, which results in a corresponding hump-type elevation at the pressing-in location during the pressing-in operation.
It can be provided that the connecting element is pressed into the first component by way of a pressing tool, wherein the pressing tool comprises an upper tool and a lower tool, between which the first component is introduced. It can be provided that the connecting element is pressed “out of the upper tool or the lower tool” into the first component. The pressing tool can be, for example, a deep-drawing tool, by which the first component is reshaped, i.e. deep-drawn, before the pressing-in operation or during the pressing-in of the at least one ball or of the at least one spherical element.
It is essential for the production of a high-quality and permanently fixed connection that the first component is composed of a ductile material, such as, for example, metal. For example, the first component can be composed of steel or an aluminum. The first component can therefore in particular be a steel sheet or an aluminum sheet.
The connecting element or the at least one ball or the at least one spherical element can be composed of a different material or of the same material as the first component. The connecting element is preferably composed of a material which has at least the same or a greater hardness than the first component. In particular, it can be provided that the connecting element or the at least one ball or the at least one spherical element is composed of steel.
According to a development of the invention, it is provided that the connecting element is connected to the first component exclusively by the at least one ball or the at least one spherical element being pressed into the first component. The connecting element therefore does not absolutely need to be additionally connected in another manner, for example by welding or adhesive bonding, to the first component.
According to a development of the invention, it is provided that the at least one ball or the at least one spherical element is pressed into a through hole which is provided in the first component and has a smaller diameter than the ball or the spherical element.
However, a through hole is not absolutely necessary for the pressing-in of the connecting element. Tests have shown that it is also possible to press the ball or the spherical element into the “solid material” of the first component. It can be provided that, after the ball or the spherical element is pressed into the “solid material”, the ball or the spherical element does not penetrate or pierce the first component, i.e. that the ball or the spherical element is completely covered “from below” by material of the first component.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.